Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sarah Walton on April 5, 2012 at 3:21pm

Neat! A fascinating new image of dinos  I visited Science World in Vancouver, BC recently and saw they had updated their dinosaur exhibit to include feathered dinos.

Permalink Reply by Denise Bennett on April 5, 2012 at 3:29pm

" Just don't mistake fuzzy for cuddly," -Gotta love that quote. ;) Thanks for the share, interesting article indeed. Here's another link worth a read for those interested, and directly related:

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/02/dinosaur-fossil-reveals-t...

Some of them look like gigantic wild turkey ancestors.. but in all seriousness, this is a fascinating find.

Permalink Reply by Stuart Jeremy Oxley on April 6, 2012 at 2:45am

The great thing about having plumage is you can look like a drag queen during the mating season and then dump it for camoflage after you have pulled. As I understand it, skin impressions have been found of T. Rex with no sign of feather attachment, so T. Rex was either partially covered or feather free. Knowing how usefull feathers are, I'd go for the former. And as an ex-palaeo student I would say the babies almost certainly had feathers for insulation and probably camoflage too.

Permalink Reply by Nontheist Central on April 7, 2012 at 8:44pm

A little off the subject, but interesting nonetheless:

Did you know that by looking at fossilized feathers and skin of dinosaurs under a powerful microscope, scientists can determine the color and pattern that they had in life?  I thought that was brilliant.  I'll thank Dr. Alice Roberts for sharing that tidbit!

http://youtu.be/dZMQOe9RQ4Y